Container car



DCC. 5, 1933. l A. W CLARKE Y 1,937,55()

CONTAINER CAR Filed Jan. 6, 1952 3 sheets-sheet 1 A. W. CLARKE Dec. 57 1933.

CONTAINER CAR Filed Jan. 6, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 e @am rh..." 4m mf w QCS D /m w A. W. CLARKE CONTAINER CAR Dec. 5, 1933.

Filed Jan. 6, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Dec. V5, 1933 UNITED STATES CONTAINERHCAR Allen W. Clarke, Ridgewood, N. J., assignor to American Car and Foundry Company, New` v York, N. Y., a corporation of vNew Jersey l Y f Appueation January s, 1932. serial No. 585,037 v s claims. V(C1. 10s-366).

. This invention relates generally to railway cars and has particular reference to container cars for handling interchangeable containers which transport fractional car lots of merchandise. 5 One object of this invention is the provision of a car of the above mentioned character in which the necessity of using a crane to load or unload the containers is eliminated.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a container car having drop sides adapted to serve as runways for `the containers when said sides are in their lowered position and adapted to serve as side walls when in their elevated position. 'Still another object of this invention is the provision of a container car, the side walls of which are formed of a plurality of independently mov able sections or doors each adapted lto lap the end portions of adjacently arranged containers and. each'section when lowered being adapted to serve y20 as a runway for a container as it is loaded onto or removed from the car.'

A further object of this invention is the provision of a container c ar having a pluralityof. transversely arranged bulkheads forming compartments each adapted to receive a container. This invention further contemplates the provision of abulkhead unit which may be fabricated as a unit vand then attached in its unitary form to a nat car; a plurality of these bulkhead units being attached to the flat car to form a plurality of compartments each adapted to receive a container for holding and "transporting fractional car lots of merchandise. Y The containercar of the present'invention also 35v provides a means whereby it may be alined with an adjacent car in parallel relation whereby to easily transfer a container from one car to the other. Y y 4 Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent romthe following Adescription taken yin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: Y

Figure 1 isa broken side elevation of one end portion of the car of the present invention, certain parts being shown in section; the View also showing, in broken lines, containers arranged in the car. f f

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through a doorway of the car showing the bulkhead and door iny elevation; the view having certain parts broken away to disclose the container in position and .having other parts shown in section, While still other parts are shown in broken lines to indicate the door in lowered position. y

Fig. 3'is a partial top plan view; of a portion of 'ihe'car' Of'FigL i'showia'in brokenjhneslthi 'i doors in open positionto'serve as runways. ,l A

Fig. Llisa sectional' viewon `the `1ine44, Fig.3. Fig. 5 isa sectional .view on the line l55,.u) l Fig.3,and y ,Y Fig. 6 is a detail view, partlyin section; showing the arrangement of the doors of adjacent cars to permit containersv tov be moved from one car to the other. n f.' n Referring to the drawings Ymorein vdetail','the present invention-contemplates the vadditionA to any standard flat'car of certain elements to form the container car ofthe 'present invention, and A indicates'a flat car'of any desired construction, the samehaving side si1ls 4 o f which'only'oneis shown andintermediate longitudinally extending sills Gandalloor. f l The car is divided into a-'plurality of compart-` ments each adapted to receive a container, the compartments being providedby means of transverse bulkheads indicated generally at"B,'.th e bulkheadsvatthe ends of the car serving. as end Walls as will be apparent anddifering slightly ink construction from the vintermediate,bulkheadsl as 8.0, will be .apparent from the following description.

Informing the containercar of the present invention the bulkheadsy are preferably, rtlfiough vnot necessarily, formed as units adapted to'be` placed upon the floor 8 of the car and secured' thereto as presently to be described. ,The intermediate bulkhead units each include a baselO4 comprising a metal plate of sufficient length to extend across the floor 8 of the carvand of sufficient widthto provide supporting portions 12 on each side ofthe. bulkhead for adjacently l'.:nranged .containers (see Fig. 4). The bulkheads` each comprise spaced metal plates 14V extending transversely across the base 10 and pressed to substantiallyz shape with outwardly :extending flanges 116 'at their lower edges which/areriveted as at 18 to the base 10. The upper edge vportions of theplates 14 are provided withinwardly extending Vangfes 20 which support a topplate 22 riveted theretoas 100 at 24'. As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the plates 11iA converge neartheirendstoward the sides ofthe car and the end edges of the plates are riveted` as' at 26 to an end closure member 28 which-comi prises a substantially U-'shaped element, the'l'ower end o f which isinwardlyflanged. as vat 30 and is secured in anyfsuitablema'nner to the plate or base'lOlsee Fig. 2). v K The bulkhead is braced and stiienedr by'internally arranged diaphragms k32vsecured tothe 110.

PATENT oFFIcEff l plates 14 by suitable fasteners as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

From thev above description it is believed apparent to those skilled in the art that the bulkheads B serve to divide the carA into a plurality of compartments. end walls orend bulkheads are illustrated in Figs. 3 and V5 and each comprises "a plate 34 having a supporting flange 36 at its lower edge secured to the base l10 of the bulkhead unit, and an angle 38 riveted to its upper portion. This end wall is.

suitably braced by gussets 40 secured to theplate 34, angle 38 and base 10 by suitable fasteners.

As shown clearly in Fig. 3, thejendportions of. the;r

end bulkheads B are bent aslat 42 and; it is apparent that this bending of the bulkheads as A hereinbefore described providesan-enlarged enf ktrance opening for each of the compartments to facilitate loading ofthe containers onto lthe, car.

an entity andV then'placed,y on the floor of the car in the desiredk and proper positions and be secured'thereto by suitable'faste'ners such as the bolts 44. 4

In practice' it is desirable to have the base l0 of each bulkhead unit of a length such'thatthe opposite end portions thereof may be downwardly. bentas at 46 to overlie the upper portion 'of l, a plate'48 secured to the' side sill adjacent the bulkheadunits (see Fig'. 2,)

' The side wallsof .the car' are formed of a plurality of drop sectionsjor doorsD, as shown clearly, in thedrawings. VvIn the instance shown', the

. doors are arranged'in spaced relation,butthis is merely by way ofi example as' obviously within the spirit ofv the invention the doors may be of such length that'their: adjacent side edge portions willV be arranged relatively close togetherjto provvide side walls which are Lsubstantially''continuous. from end to en'd ofthe car.

Theend' doors extend'partly over the end compartments (seeQFig. 1) While the intermediate doors Vare each adapted to extendV Vpartly over l adjacentV compartments. The doors are hingedly Vmountedas will be hereinafter more speci'cally described' and', 4when in; elevated position, serve as fend barriers for the compartments and when YinV loweredpositicn are' adaptedto serve as runways forlthe containers to facilitatejremoval of theVV cbntainers from thecaror placement ofthe containers into the compartments. 'Y v .The doors D each include a metal doorplate 50" withitslower edge portion outwardly flanged as at' 54. to 'provide a stiffening means for the Y before-mentioned plates 48.

lowerv portion of the door. The intermediate doors 'and the end doors .each includes a top angle flanged U.sections andr which serve to. support l hinge.pins.62at their lower ends, these pins 62 extending through hinge lugs 64 secured to the Y The construction thus describedprovides for swinging movement of the doors tothe position shown'in brokenlines in Figs. 2 and 3 and in full lines in Fig. 6. -It

At V the ends of the car the .mannen Thebulkhead units may each be assembled asY r(see Fig. 2).

has been found desirable to stiffen the lower ends of the braces 60 in order to provide' a rugged hinge. connection and to this end internal bracving elements 63 are arranged at the lower ends of the braces 60; these elements 63 being substantially iJ-shape,l as clearly shown in Fig. l. n hinge pins 62 extend through these'elements 63 as well as through the braces 6U and may be secured against .displacement in any suitable Secured to the door plate adjacent the top angle 52 is a plate 66 provided with a slot '68 through The which a slotted casting 78 extends when the door is in closed position. The casting 78 is provided with an attaching portion 80 secured to the en-` closure plate l28 and said casting is provided to tached to the top plates 22" adjacent the ends` thereof and which are upWardIy'ofSetas at 82 to extend over the top angles 52 of the doorsD Y Offset portionsv 82 of castings'. 81 are slotted to'provide keyholes `for wedge-shaped keys 84 which are adapted to contact with wedges 86 Vsecured to thetop angles`52 ofthedoors;y also as clearly shown in Fig; 2. A f y From the above description it can be se'enthat when rthe keys 84 are removed yfrom the members 82 the doors may be swung on their hingeipins 62 to the position shown in Fig. 2 and thedoor plates 50of adjacent doors willfurnish runways Y to permit the containers Cv toibe' easily removed Sometimes it is'desirable'to transferjapontainerfrom one car directly to another ncar., inY

which event the cars A are` on adjacent tracks and it is necessary to aline the compartments of each car. `To yeffect this, stirrups 88 are provided which are secured to and depend from the side sills of the cars and the carsare brought into horizontal alinement and a beam 90 is supported by the alined stirrups ofthe respective cars as Vclearly shown in Fig. 6; this serving to properlygaline the compartments in the respective cars as will be obvious. It may be desirable to provide a. plurality of beams such as shown in Fig. 1 whereby all of the containers orA any number thereof may be removedfrom one car and placed directlyonto another, and these beams 90 serve as supporting means for the doors of one o f the cars. as shown in Fig. 6; the doors of adjacent cars being, supported on the doors of the first-named car... With the parts just described assembled as shown. in Fig. 6 it will be apparentv that the containers may be removed directly from one car *andl placed on to an adjacent car after which the doors may be secured in their container retaining posit-ion f (see Fig. 2) andthe beams 90 removed4 from thev closed inthe drawings may bel made' withinthe scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a car, a plurality of bulkheads extending from side to side to divide the car into a plurality of container receiving compartments, a plurality of side sections intermediate the ends of the car hingedly connected to the oar at the ends of said compartments, said sections each being so arranged as to extend over two adjacent compartments whereby adjacent end portions of adjacent sections serve as barriers and runways for a single container.

2. In a car, a plurality of bulkheads extending from side to side thereof to divide the ycar into a plurality of container receiving compartments, doors hingedly connected to the sides of the car adjacent the end portions of the latter and adapted to serve as barriers, a plurality of hingedly connected doors intermediate the beforementioned doors and so arranged relative to the bulkheads that when in elevated position each thereof extends partly over two vadjacent compartments whereby adjacent end portions of adjacent doors serve as barriers and runways for a single container.

3. In a car, a plurality of transversely arranged bulkheads dividing the car into` a plurality of container receiving compartments, said bulkheads comprising units having bases adapted to support containers, end doors hingedly connected to the car and adapted when in elevated position to serve as end barriers, doors intermediate said end doors and hingedly connected to the car, said intermediate doors being so arranged as to extend partly over adjacent compartments when in elevated position whereby to serve as barriers, xed members secured to the bulkheads and provided with portions overlying the upper portions of the end and intermediate doors, and removable keys supported by the overlying portions for cooperation with the doors to retain the latter in elevated position.

4. A bulkhead unit for attachment to a railway car comprising a base plate, vertically arrangedv spaced plates secured to the base plate intermediate its side edges and provided with inturned flanges along their upper edge portions, the end portions of said plates converging, end closure plates connecting the converging end portions of said plates and secured to the base plate, internally arranged diaphragms secured to the base plate and spaced plates, a top plate supported by and secured to the inturned flanges y of the said spaced plates, and latch castings secured to the end portion of the top plate and having oiset end portionsprojecting beyond the end closure plate. v

5. In a container car, an end bulkhead comprising a' base plate for attachment to the car, avertically arranged plate secured to the base soY plate and extending transversely of the car, a f

reinforcing element secured to the verticalplate adjacent its upper'edge, and diaphragms secured to said base plate, vertical plate and lreinforcing element for stiffening said bulkhead.

6. A car having side sills and a floor, transverse bulkheads secured to the floor for providing a plurality of container receiving compartments, attaching plates secured to the sills, a plurality of doors hingedly connected to the at'' taching plates intermediate the ends of the can' said doors being so arranged as to extend partly over adjacent compartments when in elevated position and to serve as runways for Aadjacent -v ments, doors hinged to the car and constituting barriers when elevated and container runways when lowered, and means for alining said car vwith an adjacent car to permit transfer of conf tainers from one car to the other comprising a rigid element adapted to extend between adjacent cars, and means on said cars-for supporting said element whereby it serves to support the adjacent doorsof said cars, said supporting means `for said rigid element being so arranged on the cars that when the rigid element is supported thereby the compartments in the respective cars are alined.

V8. In a car, a plurality of bulkheads dividing the car into a plurality of container receiving compartments, a plurality of doors hingedly connected tothe carand arranged in spaced relation, i

certain of said doors beingv arranged adjacent the ends of the car and being adapted when elevated to serve as'end barriers and the doors intermediate said doors being so arranged'relative f :to the bulkheads that each thereof overlies a-por-l ALLEN W. CLARK. 

